Two chipsets, two graphics cores
DailyTech has received a July 2006 Intel specification update on G965 and Q965 Express chipsets that reveals final details of Intel’s GMA X3000 and GMA 3000 integrated graphics cores. Intel originally intended for the G965 and Q965 Express chipsets to have the same graphics core but have since changed its mind. The result is two separate graphics core—GMA X3000 for G965 Express and GMA 3000 for Q965 Express. As Intel is appealing to the mainstream consumer with G965 Express the GMA X3000 graphics core will have greater graphics processing capabilities.
G965 Express with its GMA X3000 graphics core will support DirectX 9c, DirectX 10 and OpenGL 1.5 features. The supported features include:
Hardware vertex shader model 3.0
Hardware pixel shader model 3.0
32-bit and 16-bit full precision floating point operations
Up to 8 multiple render targets
Occlusion Query
128-bit floating point texture formats
Bilinear, trilinear and anisotropic mipmap filtering
Shadow maps and double sided stencils
There’s no mention of the amount of vertex or pixel shaders available on GMA X3000 graphics cores. However, the shaders are fully programmable which can be adapted to varying amounts of vertex or pixel shaders. As previously reported the GMA X3000 will have a 667 MHz graphics core clock with support for high dynamic range and Intel Clear Video Technology for enhanced video playback.
Q965 Express chipsets will receive a less powerful graphics core in the form of the GMA 3000. GMA 3000 will meet the minimums to support Microsoft’s upcoming Windows Vista Premium with Aero Glass interface with support for DirectX 9c and OpenGL 1.4 plus. The following features are supported:
Software vertex shader model 2.0/3.0
Hardware pixel shader model 2.0
32-bit and 16-bit fixed point operations
Up to 8 multiple render targets
Occlusion query
128-bit floating point texture formats
Bilinear, trilinear and anisotropic mipmap filtering
Shadow maps and double sided stencils
With the exception of hardware pixel shader model 2.0 support the GMA 3000 graphics core has similar specifications as the outgoing GMA 950 graphics core. Since Intel is catering Q965 Express chipsets towards business users as part of its vPro platform initiative it doesn’t exactly need gaming capable graphics power.
Availability of G965 Express based products is expected sometime this month while Q965 Express based products will have a formal launch in early September.
News source: DAILYTECH
